Lois McMaster Bujold

As the first Miles book following on from the events of The Vor Game (in the largely chronological order I'm using), it is honestly a bit of a disappointment. Of the five books I've read so far, it's the first that doesn't feel like it moves the story forward in some kind of way, the first to not really tell me anything about its central character I don't already know. Miles and Ivan go to the planet Cetaganda, and of course find themselves embroiled in political subterfuge, plus also investigating a murder. It's fun enough, but I didn't feel like it had a strong thematic or character spine undergirding it, nothing was holding it together other than the political plot—and honestly I don't really care about the political disposition of Cetaganda, even if it does hypothetically mean war with Barryar.

So far, the Vorkosigan books are often at their best when considering cultural clashes, but I got little sense of that in this book even though it ought to be rife with it; in the rigid, ossified, stratified society of Cetaganda, one might think Miles could see a mirror to his own society. (And indeed, the cover implies such an image.) But I did not see such a thing really presented in the actual book.

Of course, it's a Vorkosigan book by Bujold, so it has good action, fun jokes, nice moments of characterization, and all comes together well. But it's the first book in the series that has felt disposable, that hasn't felt like a story that needed to be told. One knows she could do more.… (more)